This publication is a product resulting from NYSG project R/CHD-14 funded under award NA18OAR4170096 from the National Sea Grant College Program of the U.S. Department of Commerce&#8217;s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to the Research Foundation for State University of New York on behalf of New York Sea Grant. The statements, findings, conclusions, views and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of any of those organizations.

All methods used were approved by the Hofstra University Institutional Research Board (IRB). The VR video game developed was used to survey 64 individuals.
NOTE: Scripts were written in the C# language, and are available for download at: https://github.com/Jasebern/HofstraVR.
1. Creation of VR rip current video game: Virtual environment and user input/output
<ol>
	<li>Open VR development platform (e.g., Unity18). This procedure was completed in Unity 2018.3.1f1.
	<ol>
		<li>Start a new 3D project entitled &#8216;Rip Current.&#8217; A 3D project contains one or multiple scenes comprising of &#8216;game objects&#8217; that can appear as solid objects19. Scripts can be added to game objects allowing for interactivity and real time changes to the environment. This project will contain four scenes and numerous game objects.</li>
		<li>Open the Unity Asset Store tab. This contains &#8216;prefabs&#8217;-- already-created collections of 2D and 3D game objects and audio files -- developed by other users that can be added to the project20.</li>
		<li>Import the &#8216;Oculus Integration&#8217; asset from the Unity Asset Store that provides foundational assets for VR development.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Create the first new scene: Main Menu (Figure 1).
	<ol>
		<li>Use Assets | Create | Terrain Layer and then add appropriate coloring to create a hilly green terrain asset as an appealing background for the main menu scene.</li>
		<li>Use GameObject | UI | Canvas to add a new canvas, entitled Main Menu, with a text box for the title VR Simulation. A canvas is a game object that stores text and buttons allowing user interaction and specified events in the simulation based on that input4.</li>
		<li>Attach scripts, written in the C# language, to a game object. Add the script by selecting the desired target game object in the scene hierarchy. Then, in the Inspector tab, select Add Component | New script, and enter the desired script title.</li>
		<li>Follow the above procedure to add the script entitled MainMenu to the Main Menu canvas. 
		NOTE: Please see Table 1 for title and function of all scripts used.</li>
		<li>Use GameObject | UI | Button to add four text buttons to the canvas: Start, Options, About, and Quit. Call appropriate function from MainMenu and MouseHover scripts when a button is selected.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Create the second new scene: Buoy Test (Figure 2).
	<ol>
		<li>Download the Realistic Water asset from the Unity Asset Store and add the Sea prefab to the scene.
		<ol>
			<li>Add an audio file of ocean waves to the Sea prefab on loop. Add from the Inspector tab by selecting Add Component | Audio Source.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Use the terrain layer tool as above to create a Game Object named Beach. In the Terrain options in the Inspector tab, use the Paint Terrain and Terrain Settings tool to style and color as sand.</li>
		<li>Download the Standard Assets package from the Unity Asset Store and add the Player prefab to the scene. The Player prefab includes a Camera that is embedded within the Player, thus following its movements to create the sensation that the game participant is controlling the Player.
		<ol>
			<li>As performed above, add the PlayerController, PlayerMotor, PlayerMotor2, and FloatObject scripts to the Player prefab. Those scripts allow the game participant to control the Player prefab by using Oculus VR Controllers.</li>
			<li>Add an animation to the Camera by selecting Assets | Create | Animator Controller. Use the Animator Window to record an animation of the Camera bobbing up and down and set it to loop continuously. This simulates a person keeping afloat in the ocean.</li>
			<li>As performed above, add a Canvas entitled TextCanvas. Child TextCanvas to the Player by dragging it into Player in the hierarchy. A child game object inherits the movement and rotation properties of the parent game object. Add the text &#8220;Swim through the buoys&#8221; to TextCanvas. Record an audio file reading that text, add it to TextCanvas as performed above, and set it to play at the start of the scene.</li>
			<li>Set the player location by navigating to the inspector tab and adjusting the Position in the Transform options. Set player location to X=-23.44, Y=1, and Z=5.97.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Download the VR Hands and FP Arms Pack from the Unity Asset Store and as above child the &#8216;FP_Character&#8217; prefab to the Player. This will allow the arms to move with the Player and also bob up and down with the Player Camera.
		<ol>
			<li>Choose the desired prefab by selecting it in the hierarchy and checking the box next to its name. The FP_Character prefab contains both male and female prefabs, each containing two arms, left and right.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Add a new Game Object by right clicking in the Hierarchy and selecting Create Empty. Name the Game Object Checkpoint.</li>
		<li>Download the Simple Buoy asset from Unity Asset Store and add the Buoy prefab to the scene as a child of the Checkpoint. Duplicate the Buoy prefab by right clicking on it and selecting Duplicate. Name one &#8216;buoy L&#8217; and the other &#8216;buoy R,&#8217; and place them 4 units part in the X axis by adjusting the transform position of each as above. Set the location for buoy L at X=-2, Y=0, and Z=0, and location for buoy R at X=2, Y=0, Z=0.
		<ol>
			<li>In the Inspector tab for the Checkpoint Game Object, select Add Component | Physics | Box Collidor. Then, select Edit Collider and draw the collider between the two buoys.</li>
			<li>As above, add the Checkmark script to the Checkpoint Game Object. The script exits the scene once the Player enters it (i.e., swims through the buoys) and transitions to the next scene.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Create the third new scene: Wave Test (Figure 3) by selecting File | Save As while still in the Buoy Test scene and renaming it.
	<ol>
		<li>Delete the Checkpoint Game Object by right clicking on it in the Hierarchy and selecting Delete.</li>
		<li>Add a simple wooden boat to the scene by downloading the Old Wooden Row Boat v2 asset from the Unity Asset Store and add the Boat prefab to the scene. Adjust the Transform position of the boat as above to X=-12, Y=-0.16, and Z=14.66.</li>
		<li>Download the Low Poly Animated People asset from the Unity Asset Store and add the Kid prefab to the scene. Duplicate the Kid prefab as above and child both to the Boat prefab, renaming the Game Object to Boat with kids, and locating the two kids on top of the two seats in the boat.</li>
		<li>As above, add an Animator to the Boat with kids Game Object, and record an animation of the boat slowly circling around the water, emulating a rowboat slowly moving around.</li>
		<li>Navigate to the Player prefab and its children in the Hierarchy window and rename the left hand to &#8216;wave hand.&#8217;
		<ol>
			<li>As above, add an Animator to the wave hand and record an animation of the arm and hand moving up and down simulating a hand wave.</li>
			<li>As above, in the Inspector tab for the Player Game Object, add an Audio Source with an audio clip of a hand splashing in water, distinct from the clip of two arms splashing in the water added earlier.</li>
			<li>As above, add the FemaleAnimate script to the wave hand, to allow the game participant to control the hand wave using the Oculus Controllers.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Adjust the text in TextCanvas to read &#8216;Wave to the people on the boat!,&#8217; record an audio file reading that text, and set it to play at the start of the scene.</li>
		<li>Based on the PlayerMotor2 script, as soon as the participant sees the boat and waves, Unity transitions to the Rip Current scene.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Create the fourth new scene: Rip Current (Figure 4).
	<ol>
		<li>Adjust the text in TextCanvas to read &#8216;You are being pulled from shore!&#8217; and as above, record an audio file reading that text, add it to TextCanvas, and set it to play at the start of the scene. 
		NOTE: Do not explicitly state that the participant is experiencing a rip current, in order to most accurately simulate being unexpectedly caught in a rip current.&#160;</li>
		<li>As above, create a new Game Object in the hierarchy named rip_collider and add a Box Collider. To use rip_collider to emulate a rip current as a narrow channel of flow extending from the beach into the ocean, use transform to set the position to X, =251, Y=1, Z=251, and change the scale to X=8.2 and Z=35.7 to create appropriate dimensions. The PlayerMotor2 script also simulates a rip current by constantly pulling the Player perpendicular (away) from shore (i.e., beach terrain). This rip current is a constant force 1.25 times stronger than the normal player swimming motions.
		<ol>
			<li>Select GameObject | Effects | Particle System to add a new particle system, entitled &#8216;Rain Basic,&#8217; and child it to rip_collider. A particle system emulates liquid entities in 3D such as rain and clouds. The particle system is used to simulate foamy water, which helps demarcate a rip current in ocean water. To do so, in the Inspector tab set the transform position to X=0, Y=3, and Z=0.97, and scale X=0.1 and Z=0.1, in order to embed the particles within the rip current channel.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>As above, use the Inspector tab to add the RipExit script to the rip_collider Game Object. The script records whether the Player escapes the Rip Current (i.e., exits the rip_collider collider). 
		NOTE: As described in Table 1, the PlayerMotor2 script controls most aspects of the Rip Current scene, by exiting the scene and returning back to the Main Menu scene once any of the following conditions is met: 
		-- Player waves 
		-- Player exits rip_collider 
		-- Stamina reaches zero 
		The script also writes out the results of player interaction in the scene to a file, used for later data analysis on overall participant interactions with the rip current.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>To build the final project, select File | Build Settings and ensure all four scenes created are checked off and in the proper order. Then, select the platform PC, Mac &#38; Linux Standalone and select Build. This will prompt a selection window for a build output folder. Select a suitable folder (i.e., &#8216;Desktop&#8217;) and then build. This will create an executable file shortcut in the desired folder entitled &#8216;Rip Current.&#8217;</li>
</ol>
2. Survey individuals with the VR rip current video game
<ol>
	<li>Open up the &#8216;Oculus&#8217; software using the desktop shortcut, and then set up the hardware through the program. Ensure that the headset, two sensors, and two controllers are all showing as green (Figure 5).
	<ol>
		<li>Determine a survey location and recruitment method. In this study, convenience sampling was employed. The researchers visited a public beach two times per week for eight weeks during July and August and solicited potential participants while they walked along the beach promenade. Besides being at least 16 years of age, there was no other requirement besides willingness to participate.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Administer survey part one (consent form and demographic questions) on a separate iPad.</li>
	<li>Hand the VR controllers to the participant and make sure they are holding them properly in the correct hands, and are familiar/comfortable with the controls, and then fit the headset on the participant.</li>
	<li>Select and run the Rip Current shortcut from the Desktop.</li>
	<li>Allow the participant to proceed through the simulation, providing coaching/advice only when necessary. They should complete the main rip current scene on their own.</li>
	<li>Once they finish, remove the headset and begin part two of the survey, the interview portion.</li>
	<li>Plug a microphone into a tablet and begin recording. Ask questions regarding prior knowledge and experience with rip currents and the efficacy of the rip current simulation at demonstrating the proper actions to take, as well rating of its realism and immersive nature.</li>
	<li>Once the interview is complete, stop recording, thank the participant, and provide compensation as desired. Save the interview file with name corresponding to date and player number as recorded in the Rip Current scene.</li>
</ol>

<ol><li>Rip Current Science. National Weather Service. , Available from: 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.weather.gov/safety/ripcurrent-science">https://www.weather.gov/safety/ripcurrent-science</a> (2020).</li>
<li>Moulton, M., Dusek, G., Elgar, S., Raubenheimer, B. <a target="_blank" href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/waf/article/32/4/1659/41111/Comparison-of-Rip-Current-Hazard-Likelihood">Comparison of rip current hazard likelihood forecasts with observed rip current speeds.</a> Weather and Forecasting. 32 (4), 1659-1666 (2017).</li>
<li>Weather Related Fatality and Injury Statistics. National Weather Service. , Available from: 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.weather.gov/hazstat">https://www.weather.gov/hazstat</a> (2020).</li>
<li>Gensini, V. A., Ashley, W. S. <a target="_blank" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11069-009-9458-0">An examination of rip current fatalities in the United States.</a> Natural Hazards. 54 (1), 159-175 (2010).</li>
<li>Houser, C., et al. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/17/1003/2017/">Public perceptions of a rip current hazard education program: "Break the Grip of the Rip!".</a> Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 17 (7), 1003(2017).</li>
<li>Doelp, M. B., Puleo, J. A., Cowan, P., Arford-Granholm, M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Delaware+coast+Delaware+surf+zone+injury+demographics%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22The+American+Journal+of+Emergency+Medicine%22%5BJournal%5D)">Delaware coast Delaware surf zone injury demographics.</a> The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 36 (8), 1372-1379 (2018).</li>
<li>Castelle, B., et al. <a target="_blank" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11069-018-3354-4">Surf zone hazards and injuries on beaches in SW France.</a> Natural Hazards. 93 (3), 1317-1335 (2018).</li>
<li>Brannstrom, C., Trimble, S., Santos, A., Brown, H. L., Houser, C. <a target="_blank" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11069-014-1061-3">Perception of the rip current hazard on Galveston Island and North Padre Island, Texas, USA.</a> Natural Hazards. 72 (2), 1123-1138 (2014).</li>
<li>Caldwell, N., Houser, C., Meyer-Arendt, K. <a target="_blank" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11069-013-0673-3">Ability of beach users to identify rip currents at Pensacola Beach, Florida.</a> Natural Hazards. 68 (20), 1041-1056 (2013).</li>
<li>Fallon, K., Lai, Q., Leatherman, S. <a target="_blank" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11069-017-3060-7">Rip current literacy of beachgoers at Miami Beach, Florida.</a> Natural Hazards. 90 (2), 601-621 (2018).</li>
<li>Berg, L. P., Vance, J. M. <a target="_blank" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10055-016-0293-9">Industry use of virtual reality in product design and manufacturing: a survey.</a> Virtual Reality. 21 (1), 1-17 (2017).</li>
<li>Sundar, S. S., Kang, J., Oprean, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Being+there+in+the+midst+of+the+story%3A+how+immersive+journalism+affects+our+perceptions+and+cognitions%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Cyberpsychology%2C+Behavior%2C+and+Social+Networking%22%5BJournal%5D)">Being there in the midst of the story: how immersive journalism affects our perceptions and cognitions.</a> Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 20 (11), 672-682 (2017).</li>
<li>Dede, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Immersive+interfaces+for+engagement+and+learning%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Science%22%5BJournal%5D)">Immersive interfaces for engagement and learning.</a> Science. 323 (5910), 66-69 (2009).</li>
<li>Klippel, A., et al. <a target="_blank" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10055-019-00418-5">The value of being there: toward a science of immersive virtual field trips.</a> Virtual Reality. , 1-18 (2019).</li>
<li>Bernhardt, J., et al. <a target="_blank" href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/bams/article/100/10/1897/344806/Communicating-Hurricane-Risk-with-Virtual-Reality">Communicating Hurricane Risk with Virtual Reality: A Pilot Project.</a> Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 100 (10), 1897-1902 (2019).</li>
<li>"Break the Grip of the Rip" brochure. National Weather Service. , Available from: 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.weather.gov/media/safety/rip/rip_brochure_51419b.pdf">https://www.weather.gov/media/safety/rip/rip_brochure_51419b.pdf</a> (2019).</li>
<li>Rip Current Survival Guide transcript. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. , Available from: 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/ripcurrentfeature/">https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/ripcurrentfeature/</a> (2016).</li>
<li>McCarroll, R. J., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=((Evaluation+of+swimmer-based+rip+current+escape+strategies%5BTitle%5D)+AND+%22Natural+Hazards%22%5BJournal%5D)">Evaluation of swimmer-based rip current escape strategies.</a> Natural Hazards. 71 (3), 1821-1846 (2014).</li>
<li>Unity User Manual. , Available from: 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/2Dor3D.html">https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/2Dor3D.html</a> (2019).</li>
<li>Unity Asset Store. , Available from: 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://assetstore.unity.com/">https://assetstore.unity.com/</a> (2020).</li>
</ol>

The authors have nothing to disclose.

Preliminary analysis of the results from the follow-up survey demonstrates the VR rip current video game was generally effective in accurately portraying risk and demonstrating proper actions to take in an engaging and memorable way. Respondents to the Likert-scale questions indicated the VR simulation resulted in them feeling more prepared than not for a rip current and also that it was fairly immersive. Moreover, the results of choosing one of six brief statements clearly showed the video game was helpful given that ov...

Rip currents are &#8220;strong, narrow flows of water that extend away from the beach1.&#8221; Rip currents can commonly occur on any beach with breaking waves and can transport swimmers quickly away from shore. Hazardous rip currents can occur on seemingly &#8216;safe&#8217; beach days with wave heights of only 2 to 3 feet2, and thus can surprise swimmers as they are carried a considerable distance from shore. This puts swimmers at risk of panic, exhaustion, and even drowning. As a result, rip currents are one of the leading causes of weather fatalities in the United States. For example, in 2018, 71 deaths were attributed to rip currents, and for the 10-year period 2009-2018, an average of 58 individuals perished each year3. Rip currents are the leading hazard for beachgoers; in 2018, rip current deaths represented 65% of all &#8216;surf zone&#8217; fatalities in the United States. There seems to be some demographic control on rip current vulnerability, as one study found that men are over six times more likely than females to drown from rip currents than females4. Moreover, additional research found that infrequent beach users are more likely to make poorer beach safety choices5 and that non-locals are considerably more likely than locals to sustain injury in the surf zone6,7.
Nevertheless, despite their place among the deadliest weather hazards in the United States, rip currents are poorly understood by the public. A survey of 392 public beach users in Texas determined that only 13% could correctly identify a rip current from photographs presented to them8, while similar results were found in studies conducted in Pensacola Beach, Florida9 (15%) and Miami Beach, Florida10 (27%). More broadly, Houser et al (2017)5 performed an Internet-based survey with 1622 respondents across 49 of the 50 US states and found that 54% of the participants correctly reported an action to take when caught in a rip current. However, the self-selected nature of the survey sample dictated that only 10% of the sample was infrequent beach users, who are most vulnerable to rip currents and were shown in the survey to possess less knowledge of what to do in one.
It is clear that rip currents present a unique challenge, given that they are poorly understood by the public, can occur suddenly over small scales with minimal or no prior warning, and may result in death. Thus, new approaches are needed to address this public safety challenge. Immersive technology such as virtual reality (VR) provides an innovative approach to increase rip current literacy and encourage positive behavior upon impact. Prior research has indicated that VR and similar types of immersive media are highly effective at communicating information. VR is generally defined as an interactive experience taking place within a simulated environment that incorporates auditory and visual feedback, usually with the assistance of a headset. One recent study11 asserted that VR is a mature technology, well-suited to assist in the scientific inquiry process. Moreover, other recent research12 showed that when individuals read a New York Times story with a VR supplement, they were more likely to perceive the source as being credible, recall the information presented, share it with others, and feel an emotional connection, than those who read the article in traditional media, with just text and graphics. Additional studies13,14 concluded that immersive media promotes education by increasing engagement and real-world applicability of a topic. Most recently, researchers15 leveraged VR to simulate a Category 3 hurricane landfall and determined that survey respondents viewing the VR were significantly more likely to consider evacuation than those only viewing traditional text and graphic products. Despite its clear utility, no studies or initiatives have shown comprehensively how VR can be effectively applied to the unique challenge of training beach users to better locate and react to rip currents. The present work fills that research gap by first teaching individuals how to swim and wave in a virtual ocean environment and then evaluating how they react to the sudden and unwarned onset of a rip current. Participants were trained in both swimming and waving for help because each of those actions are regarded as valid responses when caught in a rip current16,17, with conditions particular to an individual rip often dictating which action might be most effective in facilitating escape18. We hypothesize that the realistic and memorable nature of a VR rip current simulation will allow participants to successfully take evasive action in the virtual game and then report that the experience enhanced their knowledge of rip current risk and mitigation.&#160;

<table><tbody><tr><td>Dell 17.3&quot; Alienware 17 R5 Laptop</td><td>Dell</td><td></td><td>PC for virtual reality development</td></tr><tr><td>Oculus Rift S</td><td>Oculus</td><td></td><td>Virtual reality headset</td></tr></tbody></table>

developing a virtual reality video game to simulate rip currents

Beachgoers in the United States face many different hazards, but rip currents are annually the deadliest for ocean swimmers. Despite the risk presented by rip currents, it is apparent that the public has a limited understanding of their danger and the proper mitigating actions to take when caught in one. A virtual reality (VR) video game placing participants in a simulated rip current was developed to help ameliorate this issue. The VR game was used to survey beachgoers on the Atlantic Coast of Long Island, New York during July and August 2019. The actions participants took when confronted with the rip current were recorded, along with whether they escaped it or drowned. An interview with each player was also conducted after they partook in the game to determine the realism of the rip current simulation and its effectiveness in demonstrating proper actions to take when impacted by one. Analysis of those results indicates that VR has potential to communicate rip current risk and ways to minimize it in a unique and engaging manner. However, further work is needed to improve ease of use of the VR simulation and better understand how factors such as demographics influence perceived rip current risk and behavioral response.

The VR rip current video game survey was conducted in July and August 2019 on Long Island at the Town of Hempstead Beach in Point Lookout, New York (detailed results can be found in Supplementary Table 1-3). 64 individuals played the game and responded to the survey, with 60 escaping the rip current and 4 drowning (i.e., stamina reached zero). Among the 60 who escaped, 51 exited by waving for help, and 9 did so by physically swimming out of the rip. Given that most participants waved for help as a means ...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Developing a Virtual Reality Video Game to Simulate Rip Currents at JoVE.com

Developing a Virtual Reality Video Game to Simulate Rip Currents

Rip currents are among the deadliest meteorological hazards in the United States. In order to demonstrate the proper actions to take when caught in a rip current in a memorable and engaging way, a virtual reality video game is developed.

Beachgoers in the United States face many different hazards, but rip currents are annually the deadliest for ocean swimmers. Despite the risk presented by ...

developing-a-virtual-reality-video-game-to-simulate-rip-currents

Research

JoVE Journal

Environment

5.4K Views.  Hofstra University. Dit protocol is belangrijk omdat ripstromen zijn leidend strand gevaar. We zijn op zoek om te helpen beter over te brengen dat risico met behulp van een innovatieve virtual reality video game. Vanwege het VR-formaat zal deze techniek voor gebruikers memorabeler en boeiender zijn dan traditionele tekstgebaseerde ripstroomliteratuur.Om een rip huidige video game eerst open een geschikte virtuele ontwikkeling platform. Selecteer een nieuw 3D-project met de titel rip current, open in het p...

Video: Developing a Virtual Reality Video Game to Simulate Rip Currents

Human Fear Conditioning Conducted in Full Immersion 3-Dimensional Virtual Reality 

Fear conditioning is a widely used paradigm in non-human animal research to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying fear and anxiety. A major challenge in conducting conditioning studies in humans is the ability to strongly manipulate or simulate the environmental contexts that are associated with conditioned emotional behaviors. In this regard, virtual reality (VR) technology is a promising tool. Yet, adapting this technology to meet experimental constraints requires special accommodations. Here we address the methodological issues involved when conducting fear conditioning in a fully immersive 6-sided VR environment and present fear conditioning data.
In the real world, traumatic events occur in complex environments that are made up of many cues, engaging all of our sensory modalities. For example, cues that form the environmental configuration include not only visual elements, but aural, olfactory, and even tactile. In rodent studies of fear conditioning animals are fully immersed in a context that is rich with novel visual, tactile and olfactory cues. However, standard laboratory tests of fear conditioning in humans are typically conducted in a nondescript room in front of a flat or 2D computer screen and do not replicate the complexity of real world experiences. On the other hand, a major limitation of clinical studies aimed at reducing (extinguishing) fear and preventing relapse in anxiety disorders is that treatment occurs after participants have acquired a fear in an uncontrolled and largely unknown context. Thus the experimenters are left without information about the duration of exposure, the true nature of the stimulus, and associated background cues in the environment1. In the absence of this information it can be difficult to truly extinguish a fear that is both cue and context-dependent. Virtual reality environments address these issues by providing the complexity of the real world, and at the same time allowing experimenters to constrain fear conditioning and extinction parameters to yield empirical data that can suggest better treatment options and/or analyze mechanistic hypotheses.
In order to test the hypothesis that fear conditioning may be richly encoded and context specific when conducted in a fully immersive environment, we developed distinct virtual reality 3-D contexts in which participants experienced fear conditioning to virtual snakes or spiders. Auditory cues co-occurred with the CS in order to further evoke orienting responses and a feeling of "presence" in subjects 2 . Skin conductance response served as the dependent measure of fear acquisition, memory retention and extinction.

Human Fear Conditioning Conducted in Full Immersion 3-Dimensional Virtual Reality

Classical fear conditioning paradigm was adapted for human participants in a fully immersive virtual reality setting. Using a discrimination paradigm, conditioned fear, cue and context memory retention, and extinction was measured with skin conductance response to dynamic virtual snakes and spiders (the conditioned stimuli) in two distinct virtual contexts.

Fear conditioning is a widely used paradigm in non-human animal research to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying fear and anxiety. A major ...

Neuroscience

Automated Interactive Video Playback for Studies of Animal Communication

Video playback is a widely-used technique for the controlled manipulation and presentation of visual signals in animal communication. In particular, parameter-based computer animation offers the opportunity to independently manipulate any number of behavioral, morphological, or spectral characteristics in the context of realistic, moving images of animals on screen. A major limitation of conventional playback, however, is that the visual stimulus lacks the ability to interact with the live animal. Borrowing from video-game technology, we have created an automated, interactive system for video playback that controls animations in response to real-time signals from a video tracking system. We demonstrated this method by conducting mate-choice trials on female swordtail fish, Xiphophorus birchmanni. Females were given a simultaneous choice between a courting male conspecific and a courting male heterospecific (X. malinche) on opposite sides of an aquarium. The virtual male stimulus was programmed to track the horizontal position of the female, as courting males do in the wild. Mate-choice trials on wild-caught X. birchmanni females were used to validate the prototype's ability to effectively generate a realistic visual stimulus.

Video playback is a widely used technique in animal behavior. We created and evaluated a program that applies rules-based, interactive playback of 3-D computer animations in response to real-time, automated data on subject behavior.

Video playback is a widely-used technique for the controlled manipulation and presentation of visual signals in animal communication. In particular, ...

Mobile Game-based Virtual Reality Program for Upper Extremity Stroke Rehabilitation

Stroke rehabilitation requires repetitive, intensive, goal-oriented therapy. Virtual reality (VR) has the potential to satisfy these requirements. Game-based therapy can promote patients&#39; engagement in rehabilitation therapy as a more interesting and a motivating tool. Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs can provide personalized home-based therapy with interactive communication between patients and clinicians. In this study, a mobile VR upper extremity rehabilitation program using game applications was developed. The findings from the study show that the mobile game-based VR program effectively promotes upper extremity recovery in patients with stroke. In addition, patients completed two weeks of treatment using the program without adverse effects and were generally satisfied with the program. This mobile game-based VR upper extremity rehabilitation program can substitute for some parts of the conventional therapy that are delivered one-on-one by an occupational therapist. This time-efficient, easy to implement, and clinically effective program would be a good candidate tool for tele-rehabilitation for upper extremity recovery in patients with stroke. Patients and therapists can collaborate remotely through these e-health rehabilitation programs while reducing economic and social costs.

Here, we present a protocol to develop and apply a mobile game-based virtual reality program for the recovery of upper limb dysfunction in patients with stroke. The present study shows that the mobile program is feasible and effectively promotes upper limb recovery in stroke patients.

Stroke rehabilitation requires repetitive, intensive, goal-oriented therapy. Virtual reality (VR) has the potential to satisfy these requirements. ...

Behavior

A Networked Desktop Virtual Reality Setup for Decision Science and Navigation Experiments with Multiple Participants

Investigating the interactions among multiple participants is a challenge for researchers from various disciplines, including the decision sciences and spatial cognition. With a local area network and dedicated software platform, experimenters can efficiently monitor the behavior of the participants that are simultaneously immersed in a desktop virtual environment and digitalize the collected data. These capabilities allow for experimental designs in spatial cognition and navigation research that would be difficult (if not impossible) to conduct in the real world. Possible experimental variations include stress during an evacuation, cooperative and competitive search tasks, and other contextual factors that may influence emergent crowd behavior. However, such a laboratory requires maintenance and strict protocols for data collection in a controlled setting. While the external validity of laboratory studies with human participants is sometimes questioned, a number of recent papers suggest that the correspondence between real and virtual environments may be sufficient for studying social behavior in terms of trajectories, hesitations, and spatial decisions. In this article, we describe a method for conducting experiments on decision-making and navigation with up to 36 participants in a networked desktop virtual reality setup (i.e., the Decision Science Laboratory or DeSciL). This experiment protocol can be adapted and applied by other researchers in order to set up a networked desktop virtual reality laboratory.

This paper describes a method for conducting multi-user experiments on decision-making and navigation using a networked computer laboratory.

Investigating the interactions among multiple participants is a challenge for researchers from various disciplines, including the decision sciences and ...

Virtual Reality Experiments with Physiological Measures

Virtual reality (VR) experiments are increasingly employed because of their internal and external validity compared to real-world observation and laboratory experiments, respectively. VR is especially useful for geographic visualizations and investigations of spatial behavior. In spatial behavior research, VR provides a platform for studying the relationship between navigation and physiological measures (e.g., skin conductance, heart rate, blood pressure). Specifically, physiological measures allow researchers to address novel questions and constrain previous theories of spatial abilities, strategies, and performance. For example, individual differences in navigation performance may be explained by the extent to which changes in arousal mediate the effects of task difficulty. However, the complexities in the design and implementation of VR experiments can distract experimenters from their primary research goals and introduce irregularities in data collection and analysis. To address these challenges, the Experiments in Virtual Environments (EVE) framework includes standardized modules such as participant training with the control interface, data collection using questionnaires, the synchronization of physiological measurements, and data storage. EVE also provides the necessary infrastructure for data management, visualization, and evaluation. The present paper describes a protocol that employs the EVE framework to conduct navigation experiments in VR with physiological sensors. The protocol lists the steps necessary for recruiting participants, attaching the physiological sensors, administering the experiment using EVE, and assessing the collected data with EVE evaluation tools. Overall, this protocol will facilitate future research by streamlining the design and implementation of VR experiments with physiological sensors.

Virtual reality (VR) experiments can be difficult to implement and require meticulous planning. This protocol describes a method for the design and implementation of VR experiments that collect physiological data from human participants. The Experiments in Virtual Environments (EVE) framework is employed to accelerate this process.

Virtual reality (VR) experiments are increasingly employed because of their internal and external validity compared to real-world observation and ...

The use of Biofeedback in Clinical Virtual Reality: The INTREPID Project

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by a constant and unspecific anxiety that interferes with daily-life activities. Its high prevalence in general population and the severe limitations it causes, point out the necessity to find new efficient strategies to treat it. Together with the cognitive-behavioral treatments, relaxation represents a useful approach for the treatment of GAD, but it has the limitation that it is hard to be learned. The INTREPID project is aimed to implement a new instrument to treat anxiety-related disorders and to test its clinical efficacy in reducing anxiety-related symptoms. The innovation of this approach is the combination of virtual reality and biofeedback, so that the first one is directly modified by the output of the second one. In this way, the patient is made aware of his or her reactions through the modification of some features of the VR environment in real time. Using mental exercises the patient learns to control these physiological parameters and using the feedback provided by the virtual environment is able to gauge his or her success. The supplemental use of portable devices, such as PDA or smart-phones, allows the patient to perform at home, individually and autonomously, the same exercises experienced in therapist's office. The goal is to anchor the learned protocol in a real life context, so enhancing the patients' ability to deal with their symptoms. The expected result is a better and faster learning of relaxation techniques, and thus an increased effectiveness of the treatment if compared with traditional clinical protocols.

The Project on Virtual Reality Intelligent Multi-sensor System for the Treatment of Anxiety-related Disorders (INTREPID) is aimed at developing a multi-sensor context-aware virtual reality system for the treatment of anxiety-related disorders.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by a constant and unspecific anxiety that interferes with daily-life ...

Biology

Using a Virtual Reality Walking Simulator to Investigate Pedestrian Behavior

To cross a road successfully, individuals must coordinate their movements with moving vehicles. This paper describes use of a walking simulator in which people walk on a treadmill to intercept gaps between two moving vehicles in an immersive virtual environment. Virtual reality allows for a safe and ecologically varied investigation of gap crossing behavior. Manipulating the initial starting distance can further the understanding of a participant&#8217;s speed regulation while approaching a gap. The speed profile may be assessed for various gap crossing variables, such as initial distance, vehicle size, and gap size. Each walking simulation results in a position/time series that can inform how velocity is adjusted differently depending on the gap characteristics. This methodology can be used by researchers investigating pedestrian behavior and behavioral dynamics while employing human participants in a safe and realistic setting.

This protocol describes use of a walking simulator that serves as a safe and ecologically valid method to study pedestrian behavior in the presence of moving traffic.

To cross a road successfully, individuals must coordinate their movements with moving vehicles. This paper describes use of a walking simulator in which ...

Evaluating Flight Performance and Eye Movement Patterns Using Virtual Reality Flight Simulator

Efficient and economical performance evaluation of pilots has become critical to the aviation industry. With the development of virtual reality (VR) and the combination of eye-tracking technology, solutions to meet these needs are becoming a reality. Previous studies have explored VR-based flight simulators, focusing mainly on technology validation and flight training. The current study developed a new VR flight simulator to evaluate pilots' flight performance based on eye movement and flight indicators in a 3D immersive scene. During the experiment, 46 participants were recruited: 23 professional pilots and 23 college students without flight experience. The experiment results showed significant differences in flight performance between participants with and without flight experience, the former being higher than the latter. In contrast, those with flight experience showed more structured and efficient eye-movement patterns. These results of the differentiation of flight performance demonstrate the validity of the current VR flight simulator as a flight performance assessment method. The different eye-movement patterns with flight experience provide the basis for future flight selection. However, this VR-based flight simulator has shortcomings like motion feedback compared to traditional flight simulators. This flight simulator platform is highly flexible except for the apparent low cost. It can meet the diverse needs of researchers (e.g., measuring situation awareness, VR sickness, and workload by adding relevant scales).

A new virtual reality flight simulator was built, which enables efficient and low-cost evaluation of flight performance and eye movement patterns. It also provides a high-potential research tool for ergonomics and other research.

Efficient and economical performance evaluation of pilots has become critical to the aviation industry. With the development of virtual reality (VR) and ...

The Immersive Cleveland Clinic Virtual Reality Shopping Platform for the Assessment of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living

A decline in the performance of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) has been proposed as a prodromal marker of neurological disease. Existing clinical and performance-based IADL assessments are not feasible for integration into clinical medicine. Virtual reality (VR) is a powerful yet underutilized tool that could advance the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disease. An impediment to the adoption and scaling of VR in clinical neurology is VR-related sickness resulting from sensory inconsistencies between the visual and vestibular systems (i.e., locomotion problem).
The Cleveland Clinic Virtual Reality Shopping (CC-VRS) platform attempts to solve the locomotion problem by coupling an omnidirectional treadmill with high-resolution VR content, enabling the user to physically navigate a virtual grocery store to simulate shopping. The CC-VRS consists of Basic and Complex shopping experiences; both require walking 150 m and retrieving five items. The Complex experience has additional scenarios that increase the cognitive and motor demands of the task to better represent the continuum of activities associated with real-world shopping. The CC-VRS platform provides objective and quantitative biomechanical and cognitive outcomes related to the user&#39;s IADL performance. Initial data indicate that the CC-VRS results in minimal VR-sickness and is feasible and tolerable for older adults and patients with Parkinson&#39;s disease (PD). The considerations underlying the development, design, and hardware and software technology are reviewed, and initial models of integration into primary care and neurology are provided.

Virtual reality (VR) is a powerful yet underutilized approach to advance the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disease. The Cleveland Clinic Virtual Reality Shopping platform combines state-of-the-art VR content with an omnidirectional treadmill to quantify instrumental activities of daily living-a proposed prodromal marker of neurological disease.

A decline in the performance of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) has been proposed as a prodromal marker of neurological disease. Existing ...

Engineering

Analysis of Zebrafish Cardiac Contraction with Virtual Reality Interaction

4D Light-sheet Imaging of Zebrafish Cardiac Contraction

Zebrafish is an intriguing model organism known for its remarkable cardiac regeneration capacity. Studying the contracting heart in vivo is essential for gaining insights into structural and functional changes in response to injuries. However, obtaining high-resolution and high-speed 4-dimensional (4D, 3D spatial + 1D temporal) images of the zebrafish heart to assess cardiac architecture and contractility remains challenging. In this context, an in-house light-sheet microscope (LSM) and customized computational analysis are&#160;used to overcome these technical limitations. This strategy, involving LSM system construction, retrospective synchronization, single cell tracking, and user-directed analysis, enables one to investigate the micro-structure and contractile function across the entire heart at the single-cell resolution in the transgenic Tg(myl7:nucGFP) zebrafish larvae. Additionally, we are able to further incorporate microinjection of small molecule compounds to induce cardiac injury in a precise and controlled manner. Overall, this framework allows one to track physiological and pathophysiological changes, as well as the regional mechanics at the single-cell level during cardiac morphogenesis and regeneration.

Author Spotlight: High-Resolution 4D Light-Sheet Imaging and Virtual Reality in Zebrafish for Single-Cell Analysis of Heart Function

This protocol utilizes light-sheet imaging to investigate cardiac contractile function in zebrafish larvae and gain insights into cardiac mechanics through cell tracking and interactive analysis.

Zebrafish is an intriguing model organism known for its remarkable cardiac regeneration capacity. Studying the contracting heart in vivo is essential for ...

Developing a Virtual Reality Video Game to Simulate Rip Currents

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